Germany

ip journal

Closer EU-EEU ties will not lead to a rapprochement with Russia

The main cause of the conflict between Russia and the West lies in the internal legitimization deficit of Putin’s own system. A closer cooperation with Moscow’s Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) would not only undermine the EU’s values – the Kremlin is simply not interested. A reply to Mark Leonard’s and Ivan Krastev’s “The New European Disorder.”

ip journal

Russia's pursuit of politically motivated yet economically irrational behavior has shown that decades of attempted economic integration between Russia and the West have failed. Attempts to engage Moscow through its Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) look similarly futile. Germany's retreat from this strategy will have long-term consequences for both financial and political investment in Russia.

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The far left Syriza party is poised to win January 25 parliamentary elections in Greece, and will likely demand a renegotiation of the terms of its continued eurozone membership if it does. Angela Merkel's government in Germany, fearing the precedent this would set for other crisis countries, seems willing to let Greece go instead.

China may have cut an energy deal with Russia, but its long-term interests are not well served by President Vladimir Putin’s policies. On the contrary, Beijing benefits from a peaceful solution to the Ukraine crisis, not least for domestic reasons. The United States, however, cannot be a partner, which leaves Europe – and especially Germany.

The younger generation of German politicians takes a rather sober view of Europe, as Jens Spahn, a 34 years old rising star in Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Party, explains in an interview with IP JOURNAL. Spahn does not believe in the idea of an “ever closer Union” or a European federal state. Yet he wants Europe to work towards creating a common army.

The terrorist attacks in Paris have demonstrated once more: intelligence services around the world are confronted with developments that hamper their performance or in fact question their usefulness. More resources are required, and if Germany really wants to play a bigger role on the world stage, the country has no choice but to beef up its intelligence work.

Contrary to popular lore, the Berlin Wall did not fall on November 9, 1989. Nor did it fall in Berlin. It fell on October 9, some 120 miles away in Leipzig. First, civil courage – a rare quality in German history – had to dissolve the four-decade-old mental wall of East German fear. Only thereafter could the cement wall collapse in Berlin. Here is how it happened.

Ever since President Joachim Gauck’s much-discussed speech it back in January, Germany’s “new foreign policy” debate has suffered from being reduced to the aspect of “militarization” of Berlin’s external affairs. In fact, “international responsibility” involves four distinct dimensions, with the question of “instruments,” including military ones, coming last, not first.

Germany is widely perceived to be calling the shots in Europe's sovereign debt crisis management, and maybe in the EU in general. But a state's influence in the union is complex and also contextual. Clearly, though, state power seems to have regained prominence in the European debate. How much power have member states retained, or perhaps even won, in the process of integration – and what does power in the Union look like? Five theses on power in today’s European Union.

A crisis in Franco-German relations has arrived, just in time for the celebration of 50th anniversary of the Elysée Treaty. This cannot be chalked up to the weakness of the French economy alone; the focus on budgetary questions inside the relationship has also advanced the inequality. Three recommendations to rekindle the romance between these two partners

The EU plans to modernize its public power supply, to create an integrated energy infrastructure, and to take the leap into the era of renewable energy. Is Europe on the right track? And what is Germany’s role? Here are three questions for the Federal Minister for the Environment Peter Altmaier and European Commissioner for Energy Günther Oettinger.

Those who work in foreign policy are always traveling. This is a truism with consequences, since a politician who is away from her home district will have less contact with voters and ultimately lower chances for reelection. So how can we recruit young talent interested in global affairs? For starters, raise the status of foreign policy on the political agenda.

From Germany’s hard left to the ordoliberal right of the Bundesbank, Goethe offers something for everyone as Germany grapples to understand the euro crisis debate. But is the man himself a model of Germanic thrift or a warning of Greek profligacy? Could his texts be the key to understanding the tortured German euro crisis response?

Clearly, the future still does not look rosy for the Eurozone. But three years into the euro crisis, Angela Merkel, whose global recognition has skyrocketed in the course of the crisis, remains in surprisingly good shape. As many times as worries that the euro rescue will ultimately fail might have kept her up at night over this past year — she doesn’t look it.

While Germans overwhelmingly support Obama, the race in a divided America is much closer. Despite being strongly in President Obama's camp, Europeans will find that a Romney presidency would not be much different.

Germany needs more workers. It needs a bigger workforce to pay the pensions of a growing number of pensioners with a shrinking number of contributors. It also needs engineers, biotechnicians, and programers today. So why aren’t Germans competing aggressively with the Canadians to win emigrants from around Europe?

German politicians and analysts took a largely positive view of the Nobel Prize Committee's awarding of the 2012 Peace Prize to the European Union. Here, in their own words, they describe the significance of the European experiment from national and international perspective and extol the apt timing of the Committee's recognition.

The math is simple: Nearly every study concludes that consumer-oriented energy savings measures pay off. In order to increase energy-saving measures across the country and reduce the up-front cost for individuals, Germany is subsidizing energy consultancy in private households–and considers contributing to the purchase of big-ticket appliances in order to meet its 2020 targets.